Aug. 19 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Tuesday, Aug. 19:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were rising Tuesday ahead of data on inflation and housing.

European stocks rallied for a second day after the U.K. reported that inflation slowed in July, boosting expectations that the Bank of England will keep interest rates at a record low. Asian indices also rose.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. on Tuesday includes the Consumer Price Index for July at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and housing starts and building permits for July at 8:30 a.m.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06% to close at 16,838.74. The S&P 500 gained0.85% to 1,971.74. The Nasdaq surged 0.97% to 4,508.31. The Nasdaq hit a 14-year high on Monday.

4. -- Home-improvement retailer Home Depot (HD) reported second-quarter earnings of $2.05 billion, or $1.52 a share, up from year-earlier profit of $1.79 billion, or $1.24 a share.

Sales in the quarter rose 5.7% to $23.81 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.8%; U.S. same-stores at Home Depot rose 6.4% in the second quarter.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.44 a share on sales of $23.6 billion.

The company lifted its 2014 earnings forecast to $4.52 a share.

5. -- BHP Billiton (BHP) said it plans to split off some of its smaller assets into a separate company. The world's biggest mining company also said it posted annual profit of $13.8 billion, up 32% from a year earlier.

BHP, of Melbourne, Australia, said the reorganization will allow it to concentrate on its mainstay iron ore, copper, coal, petroleum and potash businesses.

The new company, which will have BHP's current chief financial officer, Graham Kerr, as its CEO, will include some of BHP's assets from five countries, including aluminum, nickel, manganese, silver and coal.

6. -- Sprint (S) , the third-largest wireless company in the U.S., announced new, cheaper pricing plans on Monday that double its data offerings.

A new pricing plan, which will be available beginning on Friday, will offer customers 20 gigabytes of data and up to 10 lines for $100.

"The message is simple: We are back in the game. We are going to offer most competitive value for American consumers," Marcelo Claure, Sprint's newly appointed CEO, told Reuters in an interview.